Golf ball



Apri11s`,1933.y w, E, REICHARD 1,904,012

I GOLF BALL Filed Nov. 7, 1929 INI/ENTOR Patented Apr. 18, 1933 Y i UNITED STATES PATENT 'JoFFlcE WILLIS E. REICHARD, F ELYRIA, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO A'.LHE WORTHIN'GTON BALI. A COMPANY, OF ELYRIA, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO GOLF BALL Application led November 7, 1929. Serial No. 405,508.

This invention relates to golf balls and to elevational and side sectional views of a/cap processes for making golf balls. which I may employ for the filled core shell. One of the objects of this invent-ion is to Fig. 9 is a view ofthe lilled core shell with provide a golf ball of improved constructhe cap of Figs. 6, 7 and 8 applied thereto, tion and having im roved playing qualities. with part of the cap shown in section. 55 Another object oi) my invention is to pro- Fig. 10 is a view of thelcompleted and filled vide a golf'ball admitting of uniform procore with parts in section to show the induction in quantities. v ternal construction thereof. 4

Another object is to provide, in av golf The complete golf ball of my invention, il- 10 ball of the type having a liquid or semilustrated in Fig. 1, comprises a central core 60 liquid .filled core, in which the lilling mateor ball center 1, which will be described in rial is contained in a spherical shell, and more detail later. Around the core is lmproved construction for the shell. 'Wrapped a layerof rubber lthreads or bands Another object is to provide an improved 2, stretched to produce constricting tension,

process for the making of golf balls. the wrapping being carried on to roduce a 65 Another object is to provide, in the manulayer of suitable .thickness around3 and enfacture of golf balls of the liquid or semiclosing the core 1. liquid core type, an improved process or Finally, a balata rubber covering 3 is method of introducing the core into the ball. molded on and around the layer of rubberv Another ob'ect is to provide, in the manuthreads 2, this covering preferably being 70 factur of golf balls of the liquid or semimade by lirst forming two hemispherical liquid type, an improved method of introshells of the material thereof and then enducing the liquid or semi-liquid into the core closing the core l and Wrapped layer 2 Withand of assembling the other parts of the in the shells, and then joining the shells at -5 ball around the core, which`may be carried their annular edges by heat and pressure. 75 out rapidly'and uniformly in the manufac- Any fin or other irregularity occuring at the ture of balls in' uantities,and by which a joint or union of the hemispherical' shells ball of improved alance and playing qualiis thereafter removed in any suitable manties may be produced.` ner. The center or core 1 .Will now be de- Other objects will be apparent to vthose scribed. i i 80 skilled in the art to which my invention per- The core 1 is 0f the type Comprising an tains. outer casing or shell and a filling of plastic, My invention is fully disclosed 1n the fOlliquid or semi-liquid material therein. l am lowing description taken in connection with aware that cores 0f this general dass have the accompanying drawing, in Whlchr been employed heretofore, but the construc# 35 Fig. l is a cross Sectional vien' 0f n golf tion thereof and the methods em loyed to ballwemhodying my invention, Wlh the @11- till the casing ot the core with the filling mater or core thereof in elevation. terial haveproduced cores which have been Fig-2 is a View ShOWlnfZ th? WO Shell-llkf out-of-round and out ot balance with a re- 40 halves froinwhich a spherlcal core shell, Suting detriment to the playing qualities of 90 which l may employ, is constructed. the nished ball,

`F- 3 S a Plan View taken fOmabOYQ 0f A characteristic example of'these construc- One 0f the 001'@ Shell hllVeS, SllOWH 1n FHL 2 tions and methods is that in which a bag or Fig. 4 is a cross sectional vlew of the 00m the like is lled with the liquid or tastic mapleted core shell. tcrial, and the open end of the ag closed Fig. 5 is a view, in some respects diagramby gathering together and tying it, leaving matic, illustrating an apparatus for intro# an unsymmctrical or an out-of-balance producing into the core shell of Fig. 4, a liquid turberanco on the side of the core. or semi-liquid filling material. Another characteristic example of cores Figs. 6, 7 and 8 are respectively plan, side of this general class made heretofore, is that 100,

\ upper of the in which the fillin material is formed into a ball or pellet of p astic consistency in order that it may be manipulated, and a shell formed therearound. ln some of these constructions and methods, the filling material is thereafter converted into a liquid or semili uid, by heat treatment.

e core of the golf ball of my invention comprises a spherical shell of thin, soft, resilient rubber, so constructed as to be truly spherical to a relatively high degree of accuracy and completelyfilled, by an improved method, with a liquid or semi-liquid material and thus when employed as the core of a golf ball, it provides a ball the material of which 1s disposed symmetrically around its center and accurately balanced, upon which qualities, as is well known, depend the playing qualities of the golf ball.

ln constructing the spherical core shell, I first provide a pair of substantially hemispherical shells 4 and 5 as shown in Fig. 2, molding them from soft thin rubber. The two shells 5, as they appear in the drawing, Fig. 2, is provided with two spaced perforations 6 and 7 in the`wall thereof and symmetrically disposed with respect to the axis of s mmetry of the heinispherical shell. The she l 5 is also provided with a circular line 8 inscribed'or molded in the exterior surface of the shell and having its cen-w ter on the said axis of symmetry, and being disposed in a plane at right angles thereto, the purpose of which will be described.

T e annular edges of the shells 4 and 5 are formed with inwardly directed annular flanges 30 and 31 respectively, outwardly formed to lanular faces 32 and 33 respectively, at right angles to the hemispherical axes thereof. The two hemisphericalq shells 4 and 5 thus provided are next joined along the planes 32-33 of the flanges 30 and 31, by cementing and vulcanizing, and thus producing a completel spherical core shell 9, shown in Fig. 4.

By means of the flanges 30-31 and their lanular faces 32-33, a very strong joint tween the hemispherical shells maybe had with shells the hemispherical walls of which arerelatively thin, the flanges 30 and 31 providing large annular joining areas. v

The core shell thus produced is next filled vwith the liquid or semi-liquid filling material by the process indicated enerally in Fig. 5. A nozzle 12 is inserted in one of the perforations, say the perforation 6 of the shell, as a means of admitting the filling material to the interior of the core shell. The

nozzle 12 communicates, by, means of a' duct 13,.with the interior of a cylinder 14, in which a piston 15 is mounted, and adapted to be reciprocated by a rod 16.

In the lineof the duct 13 is a spring pressed ball valve 17 and seat 18 by which the duct' is normally closed. The cylinder has a lat- ,9 with relation to eral port 19 to which is connected a duct 20 leadin to a reservoir 21 `in which a quantit of the lling material to be used, 22, is store To maintain the material 22 under pressure, the reservoir 21 has a cylindrical portion 23 in which a piston 24 is'reciprocatively mounted and the piston is heldin the pressure producing direction by a compression spring 25. To reciprocate the piston 15 in the cylinder 14, the rod 16 may be connected to any suitable hand or foot operated mechanism. To o erate the apparatus-thus described, with t e core shell 9 in position on the nozzle 12, the o erator retracts the iston 15 from the position shown, thus creating a partial vacuum in the clearance space 26 of the cylinder. `When the piston has passed outwardly sufficiently to open the port 19, the combined action of the pressure. producing parts 24 and 25, and of the partial vacuum, will cause fillin material from the reservoir 22 to flow quick y into the clearance space 26, fillin it. When the piston is moved inwardly, the all 'valve 17 will be displaced and the filling material will be forced through the duct 13 into the core shell 9 and when it is completely filled, this fact will be indicated by the exudation of the material from the other per- 'foration 7 of the shell, as shown at 27.

The shell thus filled is removed from the nozzle l2,`-ai1d the surplus filling material, such as theportion 27, is removed in any suitable manner,as byl wiping with a cloth.

The next operation is to sealthe filling material in the shell 9 by sealing the perforations 6 andf7, and this is doneby. means of a ca 28, illustrated separately in Figs. 6 7 an 8. The cap 28 is' preferably made of soft rubber similar to orlike that composing the shell 9. It is ofconcavo convex form, as shown in Fi s. 7 and 8, and in circular plan as shown in Fig. 6, the radius of the concave surface thereof being substantially the same as the outer spherical radius of the shell 9, and the diameter thereof, as viewed in Figs. 6, is substantially the same or slightly smaller than the diameter of the inscribed circle 8 of the shell 9. The cap 28 is applied to-the outer surface of the shell 9, covering the perforations in an suitable manner, as by rubber cement, and its position on the shell 9 is predetermined by the inscribed circle 8, the circle serving as a positioning gage or guide for the operator in attaching the cap 28.

The disposition of the cap 28 on the shell the inscribed line or circle 8, is indicated in Fig. 9.l

6 and 7 and secured thereto4 The ball core 1, or center,`i`s now complete l When thecompleted core 1 has been embodied in a golf ball as hereinbefore referred to in connection with the description of F ig.k l, a complete golf ball having a liquid or semi-liquid core is provided, all of the parts of which are either spherical, as for instance the filling material ofthe core, or lie in spherical layers symmetrically disposed around i the center of the ball, and thus a ball of the liquid or semi-liquid core type 1s provided with superior playing qualities.

My invention is not limited to the exact details of construction shown and described, nor to the exact' details of the process for filling the spherical shell with filling material, nor to the details of apparatus or mechanism shown and described, as used in connection with that process, inasmuch as many changes in and modifications thereof may be made' Within the scope of my invention, without departing from the spirit thereof or sacrificing its advantages.

As Will now be clear, one of the advantages 0f my invention is that it permits the employment of a vfilling material of any degree of fiuidity from very thin freely flowing materials to semi-liquid, viscous or even plastic materials, and therefore my invention is in no sense limited to any particular filling ma. terial or degree of fluidity thereof.

l have described the filling material as liquid or semi-liquid because materials which l employ in the preferred practice 'of my invention are of this character.

ln the claims, the term fluid will, therefore, be understood to applyto all such materials.

l claim: v

l. A casing for the fluid material of a golf ball of the Huid core type, constructed from a pair of substantially hemispherical shells of resilient rubber or like material, joined together at their annular edges, one of the vhemispherical shells being provided with a pair of substantially adjacent spaced perforations, one of the perforations being formed to resiliently constrictingly seal a 'filling tube when forcibly inserted thereinto.

2. A casing for the fluid material of a golf ball of the Huid core type, constructedfrom a pair of substantially hemispherical shells of resilient rubber or like material, joined to gether at their annular edges, one of the hemispherical shells being provided With a pair of spaced perforations, one of the perforations being formed to resiliently, constrictingly seal a filling tube Whenforcibly inserted thereinto, and an inscribed line on the exterior surface of said shell enclosing the said perforations. y 3. A casing for the fluid material of a golf ball of the'fluid core type, constructed from a pair of substantially hemispherical shells of resilient rubber or like material, joined together at their annular edges, one of the containing the two hemispherical shells being provided with a pair of spaced perforations, line on the exterior surface of said shell enclosing the said perforations.

4. A Shell-like casing for the uuid material of a golf ball of the fiuid core type, comprising a thin-walled hollow sphere of rubber or like resilient material, and a pair of spaced substantially adjacent perforations in the wall through one of which the fluid materials may be admitted to the interior of the shell.l and out of the other of which the air contents of the shell may escape, and one of the perforations being formed to resiliently, constrictingly seal a filling tube when forcibly inserted thereinto.

5. A shell-like casing for the fluid material of a golf ball of the fluid prising athin-Walled hollow sphere of rubber or like resilient material, and a pair of' spaced perforations in the Wall tirough one of which the fluid materials may be admitted to the interior of the shell, and out of the other of which the air contents of the shell may escape, one of the formed to resiliently, constrictingly seal a filling tube when forcibly inserted thereinto, and a line inscribed on the exterior surface of the shell and enclosing said perforations.

6. A casing for the fluid material of a golf perforar-tions being and an inscribed core type, 'comball of the fluid core type, constructed from a pair of substantially hemispherical shells of resilient rubber or like together .at their lannular edges, the casing thus formed being provided with a pair of spaced erforations, one of the perforations being ormed to resiliently, constrictingly material, joined seal a filling tube When forcibly inserted thereinto, and an inscribed line on the exterior surface of said shell enclosing the said perforations.

7, A casin for the fluid material of' a golf ball of the uid core type, constructed from a pair of substantially hemispherical shells of resilient `rubber or like material, joined together at their annular edges, one of the hernispherical shells being provided With a pair of spaced perforations, and a v)redeterr'mined area of the exterior surface o the shell and perforations being dis-A tinctively indicated.

8. A shell-like casing for the fluid material of a golf ball of the fluid core type, comprising a thin-walled hollow sphere of rubber or like resilient material, and a pair of spaced*V containing the hemispherical shells lf3;

, serted thereinto and a predetermined area 'ing a hollow spherical she `exterior surface of of the exterior surface of the shell and containing the two perforations being distinctively indicated. l

10. A center or core for golf balls comprisl, a pair of spaced perforations in the wall of the shell and a predetermined area of theexterior surface of the shell and containing the two perforations being distinctively indicated, a filler of fluid material entirely filling the shell and the perforations, and a sealing ca of substantially the size and shape of sai area and of the form of a section of a hollow sphere and cemented to the exterior surface of the sphere and sealing the said perforatons.

11. A shell-like casing for the fluid material of a golf ball of the fluid core type, comprising a thin-walled hollowsphere of rubber or like resilient material, and a pair of spaced perforations in the Wall through one offwhich the fluid material may be admitted to the interior of the shell, and out of the other of which the air contents of the shell may escape, and aline inscribed on the the shell and'enclosing said perforations.

12. -A core or center for golf balls comprising ahollow sphere of rubber or like elastic material, completely1 filled with fluid material,a perforation in the wall of the sphere adapted to admit fluid material to the interior of the sphere, and the perforation exteriorly seale with an overlap ing ca secured to the external surface o the sp ere.

13. AA core or .center for golf balls comprising a hollow sphere of rubber or like elastic material, completely filled with fluid material, a pair of spaced perforations in the wall of the sphere, one of which is adapted to admit the fluid material to the interior of this sphere and being formed to resiliently constrictingly seal a filling tube when forcibly inserted thereinto, and through the other of which the air content of the sphere may escape during the process of filling the sphere, a sealing cap of sheet rubber or like material of concave-convex sectional form, covering the apertures and sealed to the external surface of the sphere. r

14. The method of producing a golf ball of symmetrical balanced construction which includes producing a hollow spherical shell of rubber or like resilient material 'provided with a perforation in the wall thereof, entirely filling the shellwith fluid material, sealing the perforation with a cap having the general form of a section of a hollow sphere and secured to the outer surface of Leoaeia the shell and overlapping the perforation, and wrapping a layer of rubber threads on the filled shell and over the cap under tension, and applyin an external cover of balata or the like over t e threads.

15. A center or core for golf balls comprisin" a hollow spherical shell, a pair of s circular line inscribed in the external surface f the shell symmetrically disposed around the erforations, a filler of fluid material entire y .filling the shell and the perforations, and a sealing cap substantially of the form of a circular section of a hollow sphere and of outside diameter substantially the same as said inscribed circular'line, and cemented to the exterior surface of the sphere and sealing the said perforations.

16. A golf ball of symmetrical balanced construction com rising an internal core composed enera ly of a hollow spherical shell of ru ber orlike resilient material, a perforation in the wall of the shell, the shell and perforation being entirely filled with fluid or liquid material, and a sealing cap having the general form of a section of a Ihollow sphere covering and sealing the perforation and secured to the outer surface of the shell, a layer of rubber threads wrapped on the core and over the cap 'under tension, and a balata or like rubber covering for the threads.

y 17. The method of producin a fluid type core for golf balls which inclu es forming a pair of hemispherical shells,` joining them to e'ther at their open ends, to form a hollow sp ere, filling the sphere with fluid material v t rough a perforation Ain the wall of the sphere, and exteriorly sealing the perforation with a cap cemented to the surface of the sphere and overlapping the perforation. 18. The method -of producing a fluid type core for olf balls'which includes producing a pair o hemispherical shells, joining the shells along their open ed es to form a hollow sphere, the `sphere wal being provided with a air of spaced perforations, introducing a uid material into the'interior of the hollow sphere thus formed through one perforation and concurrently forcing the air contents out of the sphere through the other g erforation, and sealing the two perforations the sphere.

19. The method of core for a pair o like resilient material, perforating one of the shells in two spaced places, joining the shells together at their open edges to produce therefrom a hollow sphere, forcibly insertin into one of the erforations a fillin nozz e, injecting liquid material through t e nozzle into the interior of the sphere, and concurrentroducin a fluid type olf balls which inclu es producing ly expelling from the shell the air contentsf pacedbperforations in the wall of the shell, a`

hemispherical shells of rubber or y a single cap cemented to the surface 'of y i momie thereof through the other erforation, and continuing the llingoperatlon until the liquid materml exudes from the seid other erforation, removing the nozzle, wiping OHP the surplus filling material, from both perfomtions, and exteriorly sealing the two perforations with an overlapping cap secured to the outer surface of the sphereo 20. rI'he method of producing e core for golf balls which includes produclng e peil of hemispherical shellsv havlng flanges et their annular edges, joinlng the shells along the anges, introducing a luid materiel into the hollow sphere thus formed through e perforation in the Well thereof, and sealing the perforations with e cap cemented to the exH ternal surface of the sphere and overlapping the perforation.

ln testimony whereof ll hereunto ax my signature this 30th dey of ctober, 1929.

WHJS E. REICHARD. 

